1st World Circular Economy Forum: Veolia campaigns for the development of a more circular economy

The 1st World Circular Economy Forum, from 5 to 7 June in Helsinki, brought together 100 speakers and 1,500 experts from 105 countries on the theme "How do we move to a circular economy based on using services – sharing and recycling – instead of owning things?".

The Chairman and CEO of Veolia, Antoine Frérot, along with 13 other CEOs of major international groups, co-authored the CEO guide to the circular economy published by the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) to mark the event. The guide aims to encourage companies to move towards a more sober and responsible economic model in terms of natural resource management. Five models favouring the development of the circular economy were presented: circular supplies, resource recovery, product life-extension, sharing platform, products as a service.

During the forum, the WBCSD also published the Guide to Circular Water Management, which gives companies the tools for implementing water management circular economy solutions.

About Veolia’s "The True Cost of Water" solution, which was presented there, Laurent Auguste, the Group’s Senior Executive Vice President Development, Innovation and Markets, said: "Circular water management will give us the opportunity to break the silos and develop a collaborative approach between resources (water, energy, materials) and stakeholders (industries, communities and cities) to resource the world."